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1994.THE
QUAKER MISSION
AMONG THE INDIANS
OF NEW YORK STATETHE QUAKER MISSION
AMONG THE INDIANS OF NEW YORK STATE
By JOSEPH ELKINTON1
To the Historical Society of Buffalo:
Your secretary has asked me to tell you the story of the
mission which the Society of Friends has conducted for
more than a century in behalf of the Iroquois Indians.
You are all acquainted in a general way, with the interest
Friends have always taken in the natives of North America.
As early as 1682, when George Fox visited this country, he
earnestly entreated all who came in contact with the Indians
to treat them with courtesy and Christian kindness, as well
as to educate them in the useful arts as opportunity offered.
And William Penn put the advice of his co-religionists into
practice when he settled Pennsylvania, in such a way as to
make his name immortal.
In 1790 three Seneca Chiefs, Corn Planter, Big Tree and
Half Town, came to Philadelphia to plead with President
Washington for consideration, after the army of General
Sullivan had humbled the power of the Six Nations, de-
stroyed their habitations and endangered their title to their
ancient hunting grounds.
Corn Planter, when addressing the President on this
memorable occasion, said that he “loved peace, and all that
1. The writer of the following sketch of the Quaker mission among the Seneca
Indians is the grandson of the original founder of the first school established among
them, nearly ioo years ago. He and his father, the late Joseph S. Elkinton, have
both taken the same interest in the welfare of the Indians throughout the United
States as this ancestor felt in the Iroquois nation. The present Joseph Elkinton is
an active member of the Indian Rights Association of Philadelphia, and a minister,
as was his father, in the Society of Friends.170
THE QUAKER MISSION.
he had in store he had given to those who had been robbed
by white people, lest they plunder the innocent to repay
themselves. The whole season which others had employed
in providing for their families, he had spent in endeavors
to preserve peace; and at that very moment his wife and
children were lying on the ground and in want of food; his
heart was in pain for them, but he perceived that the Great
Spirit would try his firmness in doing that which is right.
“Father, innocent men of our nation are killed, one after
another, and of our best families; but none of your people
who have committed these murders have been punished.
We recollect that you did promise to punish those who
killed our people, and we ask, was it intended that your
people should kill the Senecas and not only remain unpun-
ished, but be protected from the next of kin?
“Father, these are to us very great things; we know that
you are very strong, and we have heard that you are wise,
and we shall wait to hear your answer that we may know
that you are just.”
The answer of the President was kind and conciliatory,
so that Corn Planter replied: “Father, your speech, written
on the great paper, is to us like the first light of the morning
to a sick man, whose pulse beats too strongly in his temples,
and prevents him from sleeping; he sees it and rejoices,
but he is not cured.”
Tradition says that it was during this interview, when
the Indians asked President Washington whether he had
any good men whom he would send among them to teach
them the habits and the learning of the white man, that he
recommended the Quakers as both willing and reliable for
such assistance. These chiefs had an interview with
Friends of Philadelphia before returning to their homes in
New York State and their situation and needs were care-THE QUAKER MISSION.
171
fully considered by the Representative Meeting of that
Society early in 1791.
The address of Corn Planter, which was listened to with
much interest at that time, is as follows:
Brothers, the Seneca Nation sees that the Great Spirit
intends that they shall not continue to live by hunting, and
they look around on every side, and inquire who it is that
shall teach them what is best for them to do.
Brothers, your fathers have dealt fairly and honestly
with our fathers and they have charged us to remember it,
and we think it right to tell you that we wish our children
to be taught the same principles by which your fathers were
guided in their councils.
We have too little wisdom among us; we cannot teach
our children what we perceive their situation requires them
to know; and we, therefore, ask you to instruct some of
them. We wish them to be instructed to read and write,
and such other things as you teach your own children, and
especially to teach them to love peace.
Brothers, we desire of you to take under your care two
Seneca boys, and to teach them as your own; and in ordet
that they may be satisfied to remain with you and be easy
in their minds, that they take with them the son of our in-
terpreter and teach him also according to his desire.
Brothers, you know that it is not in our power to pay
for the education of these three boys, and therefore you
must, if you do this thing, look up to God for your reward.
Brothers, you will consider of this request and let us
know what you determine to do. If your hearts are in-
clined towards us, and you will afford our nation this great
advantage, I will send my son as one of the boys to receive
your instruction and at the time which you shall appoint.
These boys were sent to Friends in Philadelphia and
educated as requested. One hundred dollars was also
appropriated as a token of Regard for the Seneca Nation.
Four years later (1795) a permanent Committee was
appointed to assist these Indians on their own reservations.172	THE QUAKER MISSION.
This Committee has been under continuous appointment
ever since.
Incidentally it may be of interest to note that this was
the outcome of a century of good-will and kindness, for the
Friends of Philadelphia, when writing to their brethren of
London Yearly Meeting in 1717 say :
As to your brotherly advice concerning our conduct
towards the heathen, among whom it hath pleased God tc
cast our lot, we can truly say, as it has been the care of
Friends even from their first settlement to behave with a
godly and prudent carriage towards them, in which our
worthy Friend, William Penn, when here, always set a
noble and good example by his love and justice and ten-
derness towards the Indians, so that his memory is dear to
them and they love to speak and hear his name, so it is the
care of Friends, in their several stations and places, what
in them lies, to continue the same and we could heartily
desire that as the country increases, all that come in among
us, and the succeeding generations may not slacken in that
respect, but look back on the great and remarkable blessing,
preservation and peace which the hand of the Almighty
hath vouchsafed unto these countries, as a continual en-
gagement upon all the inhabitants thereof.1
Seventy-seven years later, in 1794, we read in a similar
epistle to London Yearly Meeting:
Within a few weeks past a fresh occasion has claimed
renewed attention to this great concern: information hav-
ing been communicated to divers (of our) members, by
officers of the General Government, of a treaty shortly to
be held with representatives from certain of the Indian
Nations, who had expressed a particular desire for the com-
pany of some Friends thereat. . . . An address to said
Indian representatives was prepared, with a few suitable
articles as a present to be made to them in token of Friends’
continued brotherly regard, and four Friends, who had
i. From the minutes of the “Yearly Meeting, held at Philadelphia for the
Provinces of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, from the 14th to the 18th of Seventh
Month, 1717.*'THE QUAKER MISSION.
173
weightily signified a resignation to the arduous service, set
forward on their journey . . the distance being upwards of
three hundred miles, in part through a wilderness country.
The History of Cattaraugus County, published in 1879,
contains the following:
At one time, particularly in the winter of I793~94> an(l
the spring and summer of the latter years, the few settlers
who had penetrated west of Canandaigua became alarmed
in view of the threatenings and unmistakable demonstra-
tions of hostility on the part of the Senecas. These Indians
were displeased at the near proximity of the whites; they
complained that they had been cheated and overreached in
the sale of their lands in the treaty of 1788. They had not
yet lost the feeling of exasperation produced by the crush-
ing defeat and punishment, administered to them by General
Sullivan in 1779.
In this crisis a general Council of Indians was convoked
by the Government of the United States, and held at Can-
andaigua in the autumn of 1794, before Timothy Pickering
as Commissioner on the part of the United States. Four
Friends, representatives of the Philadelphia Yearly Meet-
ing, were present in behalf of the Indians.
On their way to this council, some of the Indians told
the settlers that on their return, if their grievances had not
been adjusted they would be redressed by the scalping-knife.
But the deliberations of the council progressed favorably,
and on the nth of November a treaty was concluded, by
which the United States ratified and confirmed the several
treaties that had been made by the State of New York; and
goods to the amount of $10,000 were delivered to the In-
dians, besides making an addition of $3,000 to their annuity
of $1,500, previously allowed.
The result of this convention conciliated the Senecas so
that they never afterwards gave serious trouble to the set-
tlers west of the Genesee River.
One of the Friends attending this Council, William
Savery, records a visit from Sagaressa or the Sword-174
THE QUAKER MISSION.
Carrier, who appeared* to be a thoughtful man and expressed
the desire that some young men from the Society of Friends
would come among them as teachers, school-masters and
mechanics. This request was laid before the Yearly Meet-
ing sitting in Philadelphia the following year, and a com-
mittee of 43 Friends was appointed to establish a permanent
mission in New York State, as well as to raise a fund to
carry on that mission.
In passing it should be noted that Friends had always
been careful not to supply the Indians with strong drink.
As early as 1687 they testified against the practice of
“selling rum or other strong liquors to the Indians, directly
or indirectly, or exchanging the same for any goods or
merchandise with them (considering the abuse they make
of it) as a thing displeasing to the Lord, a dishonor to the
Truth and a grief to all good people.”
A Mohegan chief, Hendrick Aupaumut, appealed to
Friends in Philadelphia in 1794 to. assist his people settled
on the Oneida Reservation, with remnants of the Brotherton
and Tuscarora tribes. The Friends responded by settling
among them, although the Oneidas remained in a very
uncivilized state. Some practical questions were addressed
to all the Indians in New York State as to their willingness
to be taught to read and write and how to cultivate their
lands. They also had a very satisfactory interview with
President Washington, who entered into their efforts sym-
pathetically and referred them to Timothy Pickering, then
Secretary of State, to whom was entrusted the management
of Indian Affairs. He wrote to the Six Nations, under date
of February 15, 1796:
Now, brothers, I have the great pleasure to inform you
that your good friends, the Quakers, have formed a wise
plan to show your young men and boys the most usefulTHE QUAKER MISSION.
175
practices of the white people. They will choose some pru-
dent, good men to instruct them. These good men will do
this only for the love they bear to you, their fellowmen, as
children of the Great Spirit whom they desire to please,
and who will be pleased with the good they do to you.
The Quakers and the good men they employ will ask
nothing of you—neither land nor money, nor skins nor furs
for all the good they render to you; they request only your
consent and the attention of the young men and boys to
learn what will be so useful.
Brothers, if this first attempt succeeds, the way will be
opened in which your people may learn other useful prac-
tices of the white people so as to enable them to supply all
their wants, and such as choose it may learn to read and
write.
Having thus explained to you the plan of your friends,
the Quakers, I conclude with heartily recommending it to
your adoption, as better calculated to procure lasting and
essential benefits to your Nation than any plan ever before
attempted. Wishing it great success,
I remain your friend and brother,
Timothy Pickering.
Six Friends set out in the early summer of 1796 to visit
the different tribes in the wilderness parts of New York,
three of whom remained in Madison County, and on the
Oneida Reservation, to instruct them in the arts of civiliza-
tion. Two years later these pioneer missionaries were
joined by three others, but it was thought best to close this
mission in 1799, and, as some Indians could not understand
why anyone could be so interested in them without asking
some compensation, Friends distributed their equipment
among them and removed to labor among the Senecas. In
1797, members of the Oneida, Stockbridge and Tuscarora
tribes requested Friends to place some of the Indian girls
among their own families near Philadelphia, and this was
done to mutual satisfaction. Two Friends, Henry Simmons176
THE QUAKER MISSION.
and Joseph Clark, brought them to Philadelphia, and the
latter, four years later, accompanied three of these Indian
girls back to their homes. He says, in an account of this
journey: “On my arrival at Stockbridge and delivering up
the girls, I could discover no less joy manifested among
the whole nation, than by their parents.” Three other girls
had returned previously very much improved. A council
was called and Joseph Clark told these Indians “that it was
neither curiosity, ease nor interest that induced him to
leave his habitation, but that their children, whom they
delivered to him four years ago, might be safely returned
to them, with their qualifications and improvements. And
as the Great and Good Spirit had preserved them from
various evils, so he hoped they would continue to do well.”
Each girl had a Bible and other religious books in which
they could read; also, a spinning-wheel, with abundance of
clothing of their own making.
In the spring of 1798 three young men, Joel Swayne,
Henry Simmons and Halliday Jackson, accompanied by
Joshua Sharpless and John Pierce, went by way of Pitts-
burgh, the mouth of Oil Creek and Warren, Pennsylvania,
to start a mission station at an old Indian settlement called
Genesanguhta, now known as Old Town, on the Allegheny
River, about five miles from the State line—the first settle-
ment made by white men within Cattaraugus County. They
held a council with 30 or 40 Indians, at which six women
were present. This was in the Corn Planter settlement,
and the following address was interpreted to them:
To Corn Planter and all our Indian brothers of the
Seneca Nation, now living on the Allegheny River:
Brothers: We have now been several days among you,
and have had counsel with your chiefs and wise men, and
have looked about your country, and have agreed upon aTHE QUAKER MISSION.
m
place for our young men to begin work. We are glad and
thankful to the Great Spirit that everything we have pro-
posed for your good, has been so agreeable to your minds,
that we seem to agree like brothers, having but one mind in
everything that we do.
Brothers, if you are industrious this summer, and raise
a good deal of corn and some wheat, we will help you to
build a good mill next summer, if a suitable place can be
found for it. You must find half the money to build the
mill, and we will find the other half. . . We are also will-
ing to encourage you to learn farming by giving some small
premiums to our Indian brothers who are industrious and
raise a good deal of grain—to every Indian man living on
this river who shall raise twenty-five bushels of wheat or
rye in one year on his own land, not worked by white people,
the sum of two dollars. And a like sum for fifty bushels
of corn, raised in like manner; or fifty bushels of potatoes;
or two tons of hay, not mown or drawn by white people,
but put in stack or barn; or for every twelve yards- of linen
cloth, made by an Indian woman, out of flax raised on her
husband's land, aijd spun in her own house, to be paid to
the woman; or for twelve yards of woolen or linsey cloth*
made by an Indian woman, out of the wool of her own or
her husband's sheep and spun in her own house, to be paid
to the woman.
Brothers, we will give you these premiums for four
years, if our young men stay here so long, upon these con-
ditions: that the person who applies for a premium must
produce a certificate from two of the chiefs, signifying the
quantity of grain, cloth, etc., for whom the premium is
intended or demanded, and that it was raised or made in
the manner above mentioned; and that the person has not
been intoxicated with whiskey at least for the term of six
months before that period.
This offer of premiums for agricultural products ante-
dated any similar offer made to white men, by 40 years.
The situation of these Friends who had gone to reside
among the Seneca Indians was attended by many privations178
THE QUAKER MISSION.
and difficulties. Under these circumstances it is not a
matter of surprise that those who thus dedicated themselves
had some seasons of discouragement, as also that they
found many compensations and consolations, affording an
ample reward for the sacrifices made.
In 1800 Red Jacket and three other chiefs of the Seneca
Nation were in Philadelphia and requested that Friends
should erect a saw-mill at Buffalo Creek, on the site of the
present city of Buffalo, and intimated that such a present
would be very acceptable to the Indians living at Tona-
wanda. A set of saw-mill irons was forwarded to each place
within three years.
Friends generally made ready to cooperate with the
Indians whenever they made any preparations to erect such
a mill. They felt encouraged by hearing one young Indian
at Old Town say to a white man, who had inquired of him
what success he had in hunting, “I have almost quit hunting
or hunt but little latterly, for the Quakers have put another
mind in me and I have got so much notion of work that I
pay little attention to hunting.,,
For several reasons the Committee in charge of these
Indians thought it desirable to buy some 700 acres of land
on Tunesassa Creek, two miles from Old Town, on the
south side of the Allegheny River, and a half mile from the
reservation.
Joel Swayne and Jonathan Thomas removed from Old
Town to Tunesassa in 1804, and steps were soon taken to
erect a saw and grist mill, which were completed and in
operation early in 1805. The lumber of the Indians was
sawn without charge when they used it to build houses for
themselves, and an Indian who had a grist of his own raising
ground and bolted on the same terms, said, “I think this
will make Indians see daylight.”THE QUAKER MISSION.
179
The Indians at Cattaraugus were also supplied with tools
for cultivating the soil and some of their boys taken to
Philadelphia to be sent to school. The Friends also bought
a tract of 500 acres adjoining that reservation in 1808.
This was on Clear Creek, a tributary of the Cattaraugus.
A beginning was made during the summer of this year in
clearing this tract and erecting a house for the accommoda-
tion of those who should reside there.
Four Friends were stationed there and five at the Tune-
sassa farm the following year. Their efforts were not con-
fined to instructing the men in agricultural pursuits, as they
were equally interested to help the Indian women in making
their homes more comfortable. Clothing made of flax and
wool instead of the skins of animals was introduced, and
the Indians were taught to manufacture and use soap. One
of these missionaries describes the usual Indian habitation
of this period thus:
Many of their houses have earthen floors with some
boards along each side, with deer skins spread over them,
which serve for beds and seats to sit on. When they eat
they set a dirty bowl, made of bark, in the middle of the
floor; each one comes and cuts a piece and takes it in his
hands and sits down again with pigs and dogs (of which
they have abundance) running about the floor. These eat
up the bones or scraps which are thrown down on the floor.
By this means the house is kept cleaner. I think I scarcely
saw a table. . . . Here and there, as we travelled about,
we saw and were in divers of their old bark cabins. It is
wonderful to think how anybody could live in them through
the winter without being frozen,
It is by contrasting such conditions with those of today
that we believe this century-long effort has not been in vain.
In the summer of 1807 the first death in this band of
pioneer missionaries occurred. The wife of Benjamin Cope180
THE QUAKER MISSION.
was gathered to her eternal home. He wrote shortly after
this event: “Several of the Indians have expressed a very
great sympathy for me under my present trial. One old
man, in particular, came to the mill when I was grinding
his grist. .	. . The great animation with which he
spoke and the concern that I believe he felt for me touched
my feelings very much.”
The interest and efforts of Friends of New York Yearly
Meeting should be recorded. John Murray, Jr., of New
York City, and one of a Committee of that body to help the
Indians in that State, wrote in 1810:
“We first called to see the Brothertown tribe, among
whom our friend, John Dean, and family reside, whose en-
deavors to promote the concern of the Society of Friends,
touching the civilization and welfare of the Indians we
think has been measurably successful, and we trust they are
in a state of improvement. . . . We tarried two nights
among the Oneidas, lodging with our Friends, Absalom and
Ruth Hatfield, who are fixed among this tribe with a view
to the promotion of their welfare.” Halliday Jackson, one
of the Philadelphia Friends, visiting the Cattaraugus settle-
ment in 1814, mentioned that “Our Friends inform us that
they have almost daily heard the roaring of cannon from
the British lines near Fort Erie, for several weeks past.
.	.	. At the time Buffalo was burnt the alarm was dis-
tressing here, people were flying in every direction from the
enemy, in consequence of which the Indians at Cattaraugus
became very uneasy and moved much of their property
south of the river, in readiness to fly to Allegheny in case of
an attack. They seem to put great confidence in the judg-
ment of Friends, often consulting them on account of their
safety and stating that if Friends removed they would fly
also.”THE QUAKER MISSION.
181
The farms of these Indians were generally under good
fence, at that time, several hundred acres having been
enclosed and cultivated within three or four years.
Friends have continuously and, so far, successfully re-
sisted the efforts of the Ogden Land Company to remove
the Senecas from their reservation in New York State.
This movement was started by Thomas L. Ogden, of New
York City, as early as 1809. This company has the pre-
emption rights to these reservations and they ought to be
extinguished by application to the Courts of New York by
the friends of the Indians, as the Superior Court decided
recently that the Indians could not make such application
in their own behalf .
Friends appealed to President Monroe in 1817, to dis-
courage the alienation of these reservations, and at the same
time urged the Indians not to part with their lands.
In the summer of 1816, Joseph Elkinton, from a sense of
religious duty, left his home in Philadelphia to reside at
Tunesassa, where he remained for 16 years. During a
considerable part of this time he was engaged in teaching
and in superintending schools taught by others. In the
course of his labors he encountered great opposition from
some of the Indian chiefs, who clung to their old habits and
prejudices. Red Jacket threatened to “tar and feather”
him, if he persisted in teaching the Indian children.
He learned the Seneca tongue and was adopted into their
tribe as an honorary member. His Indian name, “We-ne-
se-wa” (“A very fine day”) was given him a year after he
settled amongst them and was intended to signify that they
were satisfied with him as a member of their community.
Occasionally a chief would visit his school and speak, as
Skin-dih-qua did, some four years after he first opened it.
Addressing the children he said: “Be attentive to your182
THE QUAKER MISSION.
learning, and pay attention to the account we have in the
Testament of Jesus; some of you know something about
it, and are able to understand. He spoke the words of truth
and of life, to which we should pay attention. Love your
school-master, who is sitting there. We old men love him;
he left his home where he had all the comforts of this life,
to come here and endeavor to instruct you.”
A year later (1821) Joseph Elkinton wrote that it was a
time of great commotion among the Indians because they
were divided in sentiment about dividing their land in
severalty, and that the party opposing improvements had
succeeded in getting the school closed until a general
Council could be held at Buffalo. Some designing men had
circulated the rumor that the Quakers would take their
land for their services; whereupon the Friends in Phila-
delphia sent the following:
Philadelphia, 19th First Month, 1821.
To the Chiefs and others of the Seneca Nation, residing on
the Allegheny:
Brothers: We have been informed that some of you
are uneasy in your minds for fear that your brothers, the
Quakers, will bring a charge against you for the assistance
they have afforded you in your endeavors to improve in
the manner of living and in the management of your lands.
We hereby tell you plainly, as we have often told you
before, that the Quakers, your brothers, do not want any
of your land, any of your skins, nor any of your money,
for anything they have done for you, and that they will
never charge against you for any of these things, and we
send you this writing to keep forever, to make your minds
easy on this respect.
(Signed by 26 Friends)
This assurance, with other tokens of unselfish interest,
brought forth this reply some two years later:THE QUAKER MISSION.
183
Brothers, the Quakers : Make your mind easy, for we
shall endeavor to have your advice attended to, and we
become a useful people, and we much wish that our children
become valuable citizens. We believe the reason of Indians
having dwindled away to almost nothing has been by their
irregular conduct, and sufficient attention not having been
given to the marriage agreement, etc., which we desire may
no longer be the case amongst us; we desire that our people
should be orderly and feel gratitude flow in their hearts
daily to the Great Spirit for favors; we also wish you to
know that our brothers who now live beside us, we love
and feel very choice of, and hope they may long continue
with us.
Ever since Joseph Elkinton has been here, your desires
for us in various respects, such as schooling, industrious
habits, etc., have been repeatedly told to us by him, and
we think great improvement has been made by us in several
respects. He has attended faithfully to the school, whether
few or many scholars, and that branch has been progressed
in by our children. We have never yet seen him act amiss.
For a few years the school at Tunesassa was discon-
tinued, but those who had been taught there were employed
by the Indians to teach their children at other places on the
Allegheny reservation. Friends, however, continued to
keep themselves thoroughly posted about the conditions and
needs of the Senecas. Three of the Friends returned, most
opportunely, in 1835, when a terrible flood had carried away
two-thirds of their crops.
We note that there are about 300 more Indians resident
on the Allegheny reservation now than was the case in 1835.
Enoch Lewis, one of the greatest mathematicians of last
century, with Robert Scotten, found only eight families
possessed of means sufficient to prevent them from suffering,
and so they distributed $1000 among them during the
winter of 1836, and an additional $200 for seed potatoes.
Another disastrous flood called forth a like sum in the184	THE QUAKER MISSION.
following summer. The school at Tunesassa reopened that
year.
The Indians parted with some 88,000 acres of their land
and most strenuous efforts were used to persuade the
Senecas to move to Green Bay, Wisconsin. After repeated
councils with the chiefs they were dissuaded from this very
questionable move and the report of Enoch Lewis and
Joseph Elkinton in 1837 concludes as follows: “It appears
to us that our duty is a plain one. That we ought to exert
such influence as we possess to induce them to hold fast
their present possessions, to improve themselves and their
land as rapidly as possible, and to become not only a civilized
but a Christian community. If they should be induced to
accede to the flattering offers which are so industriously
presented to their view, it appears to us that a few more
fleeting years will join their name and memory with those
which are no longer known except on the historian’s page.”
Friends repeatedly went to Washington, D. C., in behalf
of these Indians and did all they could to prevent the ratifi-
cation of the treaty of 1838 and that of 1842, whereby a
compromise was made with the Ogden Land Company.
The annals of this period would not be complete without
mentioning the name of Ebenezer Worth, who came from
near Philadelphia and labored most devotedly for seven
years on the Allegheny Reservation, teaching school and
advising the Indians in many ways. He was greatly beloved
by them as he frequently visited them in their houses and
gave to them liberally of his ample means, as well as of his
time and sympathy. Sixty children were in attendance at
three schools under his direction—one at Horse Shoe, a
second at Cold Spring, and a third at Corn Planter’s.
It would be impossible, in a sketch of this kind, to do
justice to all the noble men and women, who, under a trueTHE QUAKER MISSION.
185
religious concern for the good of these natives, sacrificed
much that was nearest and dearest to them. There is one
name, however, that should not be forgotten in the early
establishment of this mission among the Senecas.
Jonathan Thomas lived and labored very helpfully among
them between 1796 and 1821. His "daughter, writing of
him, said: “Though but a little child, I well remember his
staid and serious deportment while laboring for the Indian
people; to them he was a true helper, and his counsel was
often sought and his advice followed. It was a common
expression with them, ‘Jonathan could do no wrong; he
did not know how/ ”
Up to 1852 the schools under the care of Friends had
been day schools, but in the winter of that year a boarding
school was started at Tunesassa. The progress of the
students has always been more satisfactory when they
reside at the school and its capacity has been increased from
time to time, so the average attendance for several years
has been about 55 boys and girls, equally divided between
the sexes.
The laying of railroad through the Allegheny Reservation
gave the Friends much anxiety on account of the character
of the men employed, and up to date (1914) it is said some
300 Indians have been killed on the railroad—many of
them because they were under the influence of liquor.
The settlement of whites on this reservation, especially
at Salamanca, has always been attended with serious danger
to the Indians, introducing many complications, of which
the supply of liquor has not been the least. But upon
seriously talking over the whole effect of this now consid-
erable city with the missionary, Morton F. Trippe, who
resides there and who has devoted himself to the Senecas
for 33 years past, he could but give credit to the good influ-186
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ence of the high school in Salamanca, and to some of the
best citizens, resident there. And thus we see in all human
affairs good and evil are generally mixed.
The course of history invariably reveals periods of
transition to be attended with grave back-sets as well as
dangers, and the greatest comfort comes from the fact that,
generally speaking, the best survives and century-long fears
are succeeded by confidence in the triumph of right. This
is illustrated by the present probability that the Senecas in
New York State will remain on their reservations and that
they will gradually become self-supporting, as some of them
have shown quite as much thrift and ability as their white
neighbors.
In 1868, Thomas Wistar, Dr. James E. Rhoads, Joseph
Scattergood, and Ebenezer Worth attended an important
Conference on the Cattaraugus Reservation—to settle, if
possible, the claims of the Ogden Land Company, but the
treaty then signed was never ratified by Congress.
The two .last-named Friends then visited all the Indian
settlements in New York and they reported that “they were
encouraged to believe that there is a steady advancement
among an increasing number of Indians, in orderly conduct
and industrious habits; and more concern is manifested
for the proper instruction and restraint of their children.
Many have joined religious societies from conviction, and
seemed much interested in promoting the views held by
those bodies, and encouraging their associates to lead moral
and religious lives.”
In 1870 a similar Committee of Friends succeeded in
getting the Indians residing on the Corn Planter Reservation
in Pennsylvania to divide that tract so their title would be
more secure. The work thus accomplished proved to be
timely, as very shortly afterward the only surviving childTHE QUAKER MISSION.
187
of Corn Planter died and the Indians affected by this
change showed much more interest in their own affairs.
The improvements made during the next three years were
more than had been made for six or eight years previously.
To enlighten the Senecas on the Allegheny and Cattarau-
gus Reservations, Joseph Scattergood prepared and circu-
lated among them “A Brief Statement of the rights of the
Seneca Indians of New York to their lands in that State,”
etc., including a Memorial to Congress, prepared for them
to sign, and the draft of an Act to enable them to divide the
remaining portion of their lands and to hold them in
severalty.
Forty years ago there were 5,140 Indians in the State of
New York, the greater part of whom were settled on the
Cattaraugus and Allegheny Reservations. There were 1,870
children between the ages of five and 21, and of these 1,418
had attended school part of the year. Thirty schools were
kept for Indian children and twelve Indian teachers wTere
employed, teaching on an average 33 weeks during the
school year. These figures included all the Indians in the
State.
The census for 1910 gives an Indian population of 6,046,
so the increase is small but the value of their lands and
individual property has greatly increased. An Act, pro-
viding for the appointment of three Commissioners, of
whom one was Joseph Scattergood, was passed in 1875 to
regulate the dealing of the whites with the Indians on the
Allegheny Reservation. This resulted in a survey of the
entire reservation and in marking the limits where whites
could settle in the villages of Salamanca, West Salamanca,
Vandalia, Carrolton, Great Valley and Red House. They
also suggested a more satisfactory way of collecting the
rents due from the whites by a United States Agent, and188
THE QUAKER MISSION.
of paying them to the Nation. This has since been ratified
by the Federal Government and $2500 is annually paid to
the treasurer of the Seneca Nation, some $10,000 being
divided among the individual members of the tribe, together
with an equal amount as their regular annuity. This distri-
bution has been made for ten years past, and the past year
(19.13) amounted to about $6 per capita. The Cattaraugus
Reservation was also resurveyed and its present acreage
found to be 21,977.
Samuel Morris, Joseph S. Elkinton and George J. Scat-
tergood visited these Indians many times and their memory
is cherished by them. Aaron P. Dewees was Superintendent
at the boarding school for 12 years, and his services were
much appreciated. The school building was burnt down in
1886, while he was in charge, and he narrowly escaped with
his life while trying to save the lives of the students. A
new building was promptly erected and the committee in
charge of this institution are now equipping it with appli-
ances for manual training and agricultural instruction.
There is a good dairy of 50 cows, which produce market-
able butter of the finest quality, and the boys are taught
practical farming.
The influence of the school upon the home life of the
Indians is quite marked, wherever the women in them have
attended it as scholars, and much credit is due the women
Friends who have taught in the school.
The Y. M. C. A. at Quaker Bridge is cordially supported
by the Friends and its most active members have been
trained at the Quaker school. When we consider the
present condition and needs of these Indians in the light of
their past history, there is much to encourage those who
have their best welfare at heart to persevere in their efforts
to help them on the road of Christian civilization.THE QUAKER MISSION.
189
Perhaps the greatest hindrance to the advancement of
the Red Man on this road is the continuance of the system
whereby they hold a communal interest in property, so that
the children born to members of a tribe secure a patrimony
from the tribal estate, rather than from their parents as an
inheritance. This communal holding of property results in
inactivity on the part of Indian parents. Relieved of the
necessity of accumulating property, it fosters slothfulness in
themselves and a lack of incentive to prepare their offspring
for the duties of life. It strengthens the continued reliance
upon the Government in caring for their every need, thus
relieving them of that individual responsibility so essential
in the development of character. The communal interest in
Indian property should cease at a fixed time to be deter-
mined by law, after which time all the lands, funds and
other assets of the tribe should be credited in pro rata shares
to the definitive membership found to be entitled at such
fixed time to participate. Indian associations, the Mohonk
Conference of Friends of the Indian, and students of the
Indian problem generally, have approved of this principle
in the management of Indian properties.